That shadow is Bella – a fluffy, food-loving, almost-10-year-old cat who has been more than just a pet. To Chong, Bella is the heartbeat behind her life’s biggest leap: starting her own grooming and boarding business in Puchong.
“She’s my family. If I didn’t have her in my life, I don’t think I would have started my grooming and boarding business. I took this new step in my life because of Bella,” the 25-year-old shared with FMT Lifestyle.
Bella wasn’t bought from a breeder or chosen from a catalogue of pedigrees. She was born on the roadside, one of three kittens from a stray mother Chong rescued.
“I rescued the mother on the roadside… someone had abandoned her. What I didn’t know was that she was pregnant! After two months she gave birth to three kittens, and Bella is one of them. The other two were adopted, but Bella stayed,” Chong recalled.
While her siblings found other homes, Bella remained – and in the years since, she’s become Chong’s steady companion, and her quiet source of courage. But Bella wasn’t always “steady”.
Chong laughed when she recalled the chaos of kittenhood: “When she was young, she was very naughty. She would push the plates, the cups off the table. But when she was four or five years old, she got more mature. Now she’s very steady, and she loves food … a lot.”
Unless, of course, she decides to surprise Chong – like the time she climbed into an open fridge and sat there silently for ten minutes while Chong frantically searched for her.
“Sometimes when I call her name, she will respond. But that day, she didn’t. I was shocked to find her inside! Luckily, I saw her in time,” said Chong, before quickly adding, “actually it’s my fault because I didn’t close the door.”
Moments like that are what make Bella unforgettable. She isn’t a pedigree cat – yet she has walked runways, competed in shows, and even campaigned in household pet categories across Malaysia.
Chong still remembers seeing the first Facebook poster for a cat show and taking Bella on a whim. The results weren’t spectacular, but the experience? Life-changing.
“Even if I have a pedigree cat now, I won’t stop showing my household pet. Because I think, even if they are domestic cats, if you give them very good nutrition and very good care, they still can be a show cat,” said Chong.
So it was no surprise when Bella clinched one of the most coveted prizes at the Cat Fanciers’ Association (CFA) International Cat Show 2025 in Orlando, Florida, in June – the prestigious Best Household Pet (International) title. This, said Chong, proves that “there is no difference between pedigree and domestic cats. Every cat is the same”.
Bella may not carry a prestigious bloodline, but she carries something else: the reminder that every cat, no matter their origin, deserves love and the chance to be seen.
Today, Bella lives comfortably indoors with her 11-year-old mother cat and a bustling furry family of 16 others. But Bella is still Grace’s first – her shadow, her anchor, her teacher.